This was easily the worst run, worst organized seminar I have ever been to (on any topic).
- with a clearly laid out schedule --> FOLLOW IT.
- I learned absolutely nothing; in fact, I seem more confused and may actually have gotten stoopidier.
- 100% disjointed. No clear path. No building of a foundation of knowledge and then expanding on that to build new concepts/theories.
-why was the MC (alex?) so involved with the discussion. Wasn't that what the pros were there for?
-CONTRADICTION was the word of the day. One pro would say something and then the next would say the exact opposite.
- DEBO and KRAZY KANUCK had insightful views on each topic. The others did not.
-For $300/head and about 100 or so people there, $30,000 should get non-flashing screens and working mics. Totally amateur setup,
I could go on and on but I am putting everything into an email to send to UB. I'll let you know the response I get.
WARN YOUR FRIENDS IN THE OTHER CITIES NOT TO ATTEND THIS EVENT.
*******************************************************************
This is the email I sent to every UltimateBet address I could find:
To whom it may concern:
My name is {removed}. I just returned home after attending the UltimateBet Cross Canada Tour's first stop in Toronto, Ontario. I wanted to provide you with a review of the event.
Upon arriving at the Dominion conference room at 8:00am, I found the doors open and no registration desk set up. Basically, anyone could have just walked in, taken a seat and participated in the event without purchasing a $300 ticket. When the registration desk did open, I provided my e-ticket and was given a gift bag and lanyard. But, if I had not bothered to register at the desk, I could have stayed for the whole event without anyone questioning my presence.
When the seminar began, it appeared that Phil Hellmuth would be taking the lead, with added insight provided by the other UB pros, and that the mc would be there to keep the process moving along and to keep things on topic. Other than Phil speaking the most, none of these things happened. Hellmuth not only disagreed with most of the information displayed on the screens (and written in our course booklet), he kept going off topic, confusing many of the details of the segment with other segments (ie: taking about online tournament play when the topic was Live Cash Game Strategies,etc.). The other pros would interject sometimes, only to provide totally contradictory information or to get ridiculed by Hellmuth. Also, the mc began to take on a role of a UB pro, becoming more and more involved with the discussions and getting his "two-cents" in on every topic.
The technical aspects of the events were lacking as well. The computer screen constantly flashed and turned off and on during video replays of hands and I don't think any of the six or seven microphones worked properly.
Although the course booklet seemed to have a defined itinerary and timeline, it was not adhered to. The jumps from topic to topic were disjointed; I was often confused as to whether we were discussing Cash Games, Tournaments, Sit-N-Go's, Live Play or Online Play. The discussion did not start with a base of information and then build upon that knowledge to teach/reinforce new topics. It was clear that the group of featured speakers had not gotten together beforehand to dry-run the event. Although I did find that Debo and Krazy Kanuck had some insightful things to say, when they were afforded the opportunity to speak without ridicule, the other speakers did not provide me with anything useful that I took away to incorporate into my poker game.
I stayed for the whole event even though I contemplated leaving early almost every hour. There was nothing keeping me in my seat other than the fact that I paid $300 cash to be there. I brought my camera but did not take any photos. I brought a Sharpie to get some autographs but I did not take it out of my bag. I would have happily given back the gift bag and promised to forget everything I had "learned" while I was there for a full refund.
Also, the included email was sent to me AFTER I had already paid cash for the event. I sent an email back requesting a refund and was told that the tickets were non-refundable. For the following reasons, I am hereby officially asking for a FULL REFUND of $299:
1. Had I received the email offer in a timely fashion, not well after the event was promoted (and prompted me to RESERVE TODAY, LIMITED SEATING), I could have made the required $200 deposit and attended the event for FREE (ultimately withdrawing my $200 deposit at no penalty).
2. I could have simply attended the event by walking in, taking a seat and stayed for the whole seminar (including the breakfast, lunch and beverages provided) WITHOUT EVER REGISTERING. No one checked to make sure people were registered, were who they said they were, etc..
3. I truly feel that this was the worst organized, worst run seminar, on any topic, I have ever attended. I can truthfully say that I did not learn one thing from any of the pros that spoke.
I am thoroughly disappointed that this event was so poorly executed; I had very high hopes and expectations with the UltimateBet name attached to the event. I hope for the sake of UB's reputation that the featured speakers pull their act together and provide the other cities on the tour with a much better product than was delivered to those in attendance in Toronto.
Sincerely disappointed,
{removed}
Niagara Falls, ON
Hey 13CARDS,
I know this is now way old, but I also went to the Toronto event (free ticket for depositing $200 with UB) and, yes, it totally sucked balls. I was so disappointed that I left after lunch (to avoid the impending snow storm) feeling totally ripped off ... and that was with a free ticket!
Anyway, just thought you might find it interesting that when they sent out the e-mail looking for feedback, I directly quoted your post above (found it after Googling 'UB Cross Canada Tour sucked' - lol - I had never even seen this forum before and actually only found it again and joined a couple of weeks ago).
I told them 'this forum post I found on the internet totally hit the nail on the head' and of course I added my own points as well - such as the first time Phil even looked at the set itinerary/talking points was 30 minutes into the presentation ("lets see what Annie's written here" after half an hour of pointless, rambling anecdotes about games he had just played with the other UB pros). I said I had always considered Helmuth to be a douche on television (personality-wise of course, can't argue with his record), but now I knew him to be a totally unprofessional douche off the tables as well. I said I was was kinda pissed that they had wasted my time with such crap and I would have been absolutely fuming mad if I had paid $300 - so I'm really glad to see they at least gave you a full refund in credit. Good on you for being the 'squeeky wheel'. :smilie:
BTW, I got cold-decked in the Aruba freeroll and actually forgot about the first feedback freeroll - but if you recall, they somehow screwed up that one up and scheduled a second one which I won outright (about $75 for first), so, not wanting to support them, I cashed out my $275 a couple weeks later. A couple months ago they did the $10 free in the account to get you back thing. I played a couple hands of blackjack to get it to $11, bought into a NL tourney & won $280 there - so while I still consider Helmuth to be a jerk-off, I no longer feel my time was wasted.
Between the "Ultimate Butt Crap Canada Ripoff Tour" and the superuser scandal they are STILL dealing with, it makes me wonder how that site is still up... oh yeah, they combined with Absolute to create a supersite...and their "reality" show is a crock too... Annie Duke's boyfriend "qualifies"?... Dave "Hollywood" Stan qualifies? This was the Annie vs Phil show, or as I like to call it, Jerry Springer meets Poker...
Comments
Hey 13CARDS,
I know this is now way old, but I also went to the Toronto event (free ticket for depositing $200 with UB) and, yes, it totally sucked balls. I was so disappointed that I left after lunch (to avoid the impending snow storm) feeling totally ripped off ... and that was with a free ticket!
Anyway, just thought you might find it interesting that when they sent out the e-mail looking for feedback, I directly quoted your post above (found it after Googling 'UB Cross Canada Tour sucked' - lol - I had never even seen this forum before and actually only found it again and joined a couple of weeks ago).
I told them 'this forum post I found on the internet totally hit the nail on the head' and of course I added my own points as well - such as the first time Phil even looked at the set itinerary/talking points was 30 minutes into the presentation
BTW, I got cold-decked in the Aruba freeroll and actually forgot about the first feedback freeroll - but if you recall, they somehow screwed up that one up and scheduled a second one which I won outright (about $75 for first), so, not wanting to support them, I cashed out my $275 a couple weeks later. A couple months ago they did the $10 free in the account to get you back thing. I played a couple hands of blackjack to get it to $11, bought into a NL tourney & won $280 there - so while I still consider Helmuth to be a jerk-off, I no longer feel my time was wasted.